Michael's Dispatches

02 May 2011

Our people have hunted down and killed Osama bin Laden.  Thank you to all the military and other good people who tracked him down to his own sanctuary.  We can only hope that the materials captured at his hiding place will lead to more terrorists, and that they will meet similar ends.

Today I received a message from the office of Secretary of Defense Robert Gates: “Secretary Gates is enormously proud of everyone involved in making yesterday’s operation a success.  It was an extraordinary achievement.”  It certainly was.  America is today extremely proud of our secret warriors and the considerable organizations that facilitate their work.

Read more: Death of a Terrorist

Axe Handle Cam

Events from Farah Province, Afghanistan
Published 24 April 2011

The previous dispatch ended with Kris LeBoutillier lowering his camera into the mysterious well at Kafir Qala, which is believed to be more than 2,000 years old.

The depth and contents of the ancient well were unknown – that was a big part of the mystery.  So Kris brought 1,000 feet of steel fishing leader.  He secured the camera and a flashlight to an axe handle using tape, thus making the Axe Handle Cam.

Read more: The Mysterious Well: Part II of II

22 April 2011

I’ve been reading traffic from a private worldwide group regarding the sad loss of journalists Chris Hondros and Tim Hetherington in Libya.  The people discussing the loss include names you sometimes see on national television, in books, and so on and so forth.  The bylaws of the group preclude my publishing names or emails without permission.  When Nancy Youseff’s message came in from Libya, the importance of the substance of her message was clear. 

Read more: Important Message From Libya

Kak Kohzad

21 April 2011

In Afghanistan, there is a mysterious and ancient well.  Nobody knew how deep it was, or what might be down there, but some locals thought it might contain bones of their ancestors.  My friend Steve Shaulis came upon the well while working in Farah Province, and decided to launch a team to unravel its mysteries.

Read more: The Mysterious Well

Sunrise over Farah

07 April 2011

Afghanistan contains many treasures of ancient history.   Climate conditions here preserve old structures whose origins often remain a mystery.

Read more: Alexander the Great

Kuchi Girl in Farah

05 April 2011
Many Provinces, Afghanistan

As the Afghan war wears on and politicians, diplomats and generals thrust and parry about an endgame, one thing is clear: The outcome of this war will be decided by the last man standing.

Who that will be, and what has to happen before everyone else quits the field, are the questions that remain unanswered.

Read more: Last Man Standing

Mark Bieger with Farah

04 April 2011

In war, the closer you get to blood, the closer you get to truth.  One day in Iraq there was a car bomb. It was like any other day at that time.  Several American Soldiers were wounded.

Read more: There is a Right, and a Wrong

A Partial List

100% Color
5 Vortex (gum)
absolut
adamandeve.com
Anti Sun Damage
Bose
Bridgestone
campusquilt.com
ccforlife.com
Chevrolet
customink.com
Fox
fulsail.edu
Garnier bath products:
HerbaShine
Jim Beam Whiskey
M&M
Maker's Mark whisky
Moisture Rescue
Nestle
Nissan
Norton (Symantec)
Nutri Pure
Nutrisse Ultra Color
Old Spice
pajamagram.com
Patron Spirit Company, Las Vegas NV
Ralph Lauren
rockabilia.com
Samsung
scitraining.com
Shop Top Belgian Wheat
Skin Renew
Sprint
stauer.com
sumolounge.com
T Mobile
taboofallinup.com
Turbo Tax
Ultra Lift
Ultra Lift Pro
vVamedic.com
Volkswagen

31 March 2011

In 2006, I launched a boycott against a magazine owned by a huge conglomerate.  The Boycott damaged the magazine but the extent was unknown.  Eight months later, the press reported that the magazine had died.  (Early Christmas Present for Michael Yon.)

The boycott was not done on a whim.  The magazine staff and other involved parties had perpetrated a series of egregious behavior before I finally decided to spend time to pursue them.  Such is the case with Rolling Stone.

Rolling Stone has been around for a long time and has weathered many storms.  They may feel invincible.  Rome and the Soviet Union probably felt the same way.  In this world, cities and indeed entire countries go bankrupt.  Powerful billionaire dictators get hunted down and imprisoned, or killed.  In the corporate world, we commonly see the huge and powerful reduced to the latest example of the bigger they are the louder they squeal.  Nobody is invincible.

Read more: Rolling Stone: Boycotting Advertisers

29 March 2011

Seldom do I waste time with rebutting articles, and especially not from publications like Rolling Stone.  Today, numerous people sent links to the latest Rolling Stone tripe.  The story is titled “THE KILL TEAM, THE FULL STORY.”  It should be titled: “BULLSHIT, from Rolling Stone.”

The story—not really an “article”—covers Soldiers from 5/2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT) in Afghanistan.  A handful of Soldiers were accused of murder.  It does in fact appear that a tiny group of rogues committed premeditated murder.  I was embedded with the 5/2 SBCT and was afforded incredible access to the brigade by the Commander, Colonel Harry Tunnell, and the brigade Command Sergeant Major, Robb Prosser.  I know Robb from Iraq.  Colonel Tunnell had been shot in Iraq.

Read more: Calling BULLSHIT on Rolling Stone

28 March 2011

06 March 2011

A story in The Telegraph today describes how the British MoD bought and pulped the entire first printing of a new book for ‘national security’ reasons.  Having had my own dealings with MoD, I didn’t believe a word about the national security excuse.  More likely someone, somewhere, was embarrassed by the book.  And then came an email from the author of the pulped nonfiction, Toby Harnden, with a completely different explanation:

Dear Michael,

I hope you're well and staying safe in Afghanistan.

I don't know whether you've heard about this but the UK MOD has just paid nearly $250,000 to buy the entire print run of my book "Dead Men Risen" - supposedly because it damaged national security and put lives at risk (in reality, I'd say, much more because it highlights a number of very uncomfortable truths). Now all the copies (reportedly 24,000)are to be pulped. This is despite the fact that it had been through a four-month MOD clearance process and had been given the OK for publication. The book, with very minor alterations, will now be out on March 17th.

I know that you have no illusions at all about the way the UK MOD operates with journalists. One of the villains of the piece this time was the same guy who I think went for you over the embedding things you were embroiled in nearly two years ago.

There's a news story about it here.

And I'm posting all developments on Facebook here.

Amongst other things, the book covers Major Guy Stone and the Welsh Guards who were up in Sangin when you went out with them in summer 2009.

Cheers,

Toby

[Email reprinted with Toby’s permission.]

04 March 2011

Plans are afoot to embed with the 2-506 Infantry in Paktika Province.  If all goes well, the hard work will begin several weeks from now.  The Battalion Commander is Lieutenant Colonel Don Hill.

Please see their latest newsletter:

Please Click to view the entire newsletter.

Russian Tank near Tarin Kot

02 March 2011

There are always the stories.  Some true, some not, most are hybrids.  There was the story in Iraq of the farmer who found a crashed UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle).  The farmer thought it might try to fly away so he tied it to a tree.   There was the rumor among some Iraqis that the UAVs were piloted by mice.

When I went through the excellent British tracking school on Borneo island, British instructors warned about Afghans who can track you across the rocky desert.  The instructors said a sniper team had moved into place in Afghanistan, was tracked down and killed.  Such tracking would be easy to do in most places here.  If you move during daylight--making it easier to hide your tracks--you might be spotted from miles away.  But if you move at night for any appreciable distance, you’ll almost certainly leave behind an easy to follow trail.  You might was well drop a red marble every ten steps.

I heard a story that, given the source and circumstance, had the ring of truth.  It went like this: Taliban had been attacking some cooperative villagers with IEDs along a road.  In response, one of our Special Forces sniper teams secretly moved into place to shoot the Taliban.  The sniper team, out there on its lonesome, spent the night waiting.  Patience is ninety percent of their game and with sunrise they had gotten nothing.  But the team had been compromised, and an Afghan was coming straight toward them and when he finally got close, he found them pointing weapons straight at him.  “Don’t shoot, don’t shoot!  I am from the village!”  The man was not the enemy, but was sent to bring a “grocery list” from the village to the Americans hidden on the hill.  Nobody was hurt.

There is no telling how much of this story is true, though it’s good for a laugh, and is in character of the place, the Afghans, and, for sake of storytelling at least, it’s true enough.

The Puddle

28 February 2011
Urozgan Province, Afghanistan

This morning, we drove a dangerous unpaved road from Tarin Kot to Dehrawud, passing recent bomb craters and ancient wrecks of two Soviet tanks.  The muddy road often splashed brown soup across the windshield while grey skies threatened to unleash again.  More rain could bring flash floods that could leave us stranded in Taliban country.  We kept our heads covered as we splashed through villages and dark men and boys often tried to peer in.  Away from the villages, in the countryside, there were occasional flocks of sheep, goats, and camels, along with countless opportune ambush sites.

Read more: Scorch & Puddle

(A raw, unedited note from war.)

Men lining up to pay respects to killed Taliban

27 February 2011

The places have names like Sangin, Arghandab, Panjwai, Now Zad, Musa Qala, Korengal Valley, Pech Valley, Tarin Kot, or Chora.  Names that mean almost nothing to most people, but everything to others.  British, American, Dutch, Canadian, Australian, and others from far and wide, have fought and died in these places. Some lost arms, legs, eyes, their buddies, and sometimes their sanity, on these battlefields.

It’s hard to believe we’ve been at war here almost ten years.  And so I am continuing a long tour of Afghanistan to discover what is going on here.

Today, I accompanied members of Central Asia Development Group (CADG).  We drove from the town of Tarin Kot to the violent village of Chora.  A quick web search for Chora will reveal countless articles about the heavy fighting.  We took an extremely dangerous stretch of road.  We saw nary a soldier, though I am told many have died here.  Leonard Grami, the Urozgan Provincial Manager for CADG, reckons well over a hundred troops and Afghans have died on this stretch in the last 14 months, including some last week and last night.

Somehow we made it to Chora and saw that the USAID project seems to be doing fine, but while the managers checked the work, Afghan authorities dumped the body of a Taliban killed last night in nearby in fighting.  They dumped him at a “traffic circle” underneath what they call “the steeple.”  Men and boys flocked to the body and were so tight around him that they must have been almost stepping on him.  When we arrived, they pulled back for a moment, and I made a panorama of these dangerous men.  Danger was thick in the air so we did not stay long, and then we headed back across the desert to Tarin Kot.

Please take time to examine this panorama by scrolling around and using the “+” and “-” sign to zoom in and out.  Look at the faces of these men, and you’ll see the faces of Taliban.

Deadly Panjwai in Kandahar Province

27 February 2011
Filed from Tarin Kot, Urozgan Province

Panjwai has been one of the most dangerous areas of Afghanistan.  Much Canadian, American, and Afghan blood has soaked into this ground.

According to the New York Times:

The districts of Panjwai and Zhare, rich agricultural areas along the Argandab River, are the original home base of many of the Taliban leaders, including Mullah Muhammad Omar.

The districts have been largely under Taliban control for the past four years, and clearing and securing them is expected to change the entire balance of security in Kandahar Province.

Equally interesting is that Panjwai and Zhare are not tucked away deep inside the Hindu Kush, shielded by mega-terrain and distance, but are just a short drive from Kandahar Airfield, one of the largest Coalition bases in the country.  The people in Panjwai/Zhare are fighters.  True Taliban.

Nevertheless, after countless military operations over the years, the Coalition does have a foothold in Panjwai/Zhare and is trying to expand its influence in part by investing in local projects.  I accompanied several members of Central Asia Development Group to visit a project they are implementing through USAID funding.

We entered Panjwai without support of Coalition forces to visit a water project.  Tension among the locals was thick.  I felt no hint of welcome other than we were not attacked.  Kids are a good barometer.  Normally, in other parts of Afghanistan, they are happy to have their photos made.  When this boy saw me lift the camera, he turned away.

Anyone missing this car?

23 February 2011

The weather in Kandahar was cool and bright all day.  I travelled around Kandahar City with people from the Central Asia Development Group (owned by a close friend) and we visited eight cash for work projects.  This is a very interesting story that I started researching in 2010.  More on that in a serious dispatch, later.

Have been seeing Afghan, American, and Canadian forces around town but only in passing as they rumble by.  During my first day back did not see any fighting.  More interesting was this Toyota Corolla with a Tennessee license tag and the Buddhist reference that “MY OTHER VEHICLE IS THE MAHAYANA.”

If you are missing this car, I saw where it went.

22 February 2011

Arrived back in Kandahar today and immediately set off into the wilds.  Am not with troops at this time, but later will see about embedding.

While driving in Kandahar City today, we passed by some American troops doing “route clearance.”  They were looking for bombs.  Their work is extremely dangerous but they keep rolling.  Often they find bombs only after they get hit.  The “bird cage” around the vehicle is to counter RPGs.  Insofar as I can tell, the US government has done cheetah flips to make sure our troops have the right gear for this risky job.

While we drove past the American unit, a friend gave them a thumbs up and nearly got in the way of my shot!

Day by Day

17 February 2011

All is looking good for my return to Afghanistan within one week.  The more researched photo-dispatches will be published here.  For daily updates that will not make it to main dispatches, please sign up for my Facebook.

Your support is crucial for my work in Afghanistan.  Thank you.